July 28, 2015

FASCINATING INTERVIEW WITH BLACK JUDGE FROM WALLER COUNTY

Waller County, where Sandra Bland died, has an unusual history of racism. Here is an excerpt of an interview with the first black judge from the county, which was the last in the country to abolish slavery.

Dewayne Charleston: "In 1963—1964, my mother went into labor. My brother, my youngest brother, was born in a utility closet right there in Waller County, Austin County. He was born in a utility closet because they would not allow my mother to give birth in rooms that were reserved for whites. Then, if you go forward another 40 years, there’s a lawsuit because the cemeteries are not integrated. The city of Hempstead will not allow certain people to be buried in certain cemeteries, and they will not maintain the Jewish, the white and the black cemeteries equally, even though they own the deeds and have all of the stuff. They settled out of court and supposedly were supposed to begin. So, from cradle to the grave, from the beginning of time of the state of Texas, the republic of Texas, to now, Waller County has been at the forefront of suppression and oppression of African Americans."